8.16
आब्रह्मभुवनाल्लोकाः पुनरावर्तिनोऽर्जुन ।
मामुपेत्य तु कौन्तेय पुनर्जन्म न विद्यते ॥
ābrahmabhuvanāl lokāḥ punarāvartino 'rjuna
mām upetya tu kaunteya punarjanma na vidyate
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) continues. He draws the boundary: every world up through Brahmā's (ब्रह्मा), and then himself.
The verse
The worlds up through Brahmā's (ब्रह्मा) world are subject to return, Arjuna (अर्जुन). But having come to me, son of Kuntī (कुन्ती), rebirth is not found.
नेपालीमा
ब्रह्माको लोकसम्मका लोकहरू फर्कन पर्ने हुन्छन्, हे अर्जुन। तर मकहाँ आएपछि, हे कुन्तीपुत्र, पुनर्जन्म पाइँदैन।
Where it sits
No world inside the round, not even the highest, is the place 8.5 was talking about. Coming to him is not arrival in a better loka (लोक). 8.17 will show why those worlds return: they live inside a day and a night.
Split: आ-ब्रह्म-भुवनात् + लोकाः + पुनः-आवर्तिनः + अर्जुन + माम् + उपेत्य + तु + कौन्तेय + पुनर्-जन्म + न + विद्यते
ā-brahma-bhuvanāt + lokāḥ + punaḥ-āvartinaḥ + arjuna + mām + upetya + tu + kaunteya + punar-janma + na + vidyate
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| आ-ब्रह्म-भुवनात् | ā-brahma-bhuvanāt | ablative | up through the world of Brahmā (ब्रह्मा). ā (आ) "up to and including," bhuvana (भुवन) "world." |
| लोकाः | lokāḥ | nominative plural | worlds. |
| पुनः-आवर्तिनः | punaḥ-āvartinaḥ | nominative plural | subject to return. āvartin (आवर्तिन्) "returning," from ā-vṛt (आ-वृत्). |
| अर्जुन | arjuna | vocative | Arjuna (अर्जुन). |
| माम् | mām | accusative | me. |
| उपेत्य | upetya | gerund | having come to. |
| तु | tu | indeclinable | but. |
| कौन्तेय | kaunteya | vocative | son of Kuntī (कुन्ती). |
| पुनर्-जन्म | punar-janma | nominative | rebirth. |
| न | na | indeclinable | not. |
| विद्यते | vidyate | present, 3rd singular, middle | is found, exists. From vid (विद्). |
The phrases
ābrahmabhuvanāt lokāḥ punarāvartinaḥ (आब्रह्मभुवनात् लोकाः पुनरावर्तिनः) is the reach of return. The worlds, from here up through Brahmā's (ब्रह्मा) world, come back. punarāvartinaḥ (पुनरावर्तिनः) agrees with lokāḥ (लोकाः). The worlds themselves are "having a return." The prefix ā (आ) on the ablative is what makes the limit include Brahmā's (ब्रह्मा) world, not stop below it.
माम् उपेत्य तु कौन्तेय पुनर्जन्म न विद्यते mām upetya tu kaunteya punarjanma na vidyate is the exception, marked by tu (तु). But having come to me, rebirth is not found. vidyate (विद्यते) is singular, agreeing with punarjanma (पुनर्जन्म). He says the same thing twice in two verses, once with mahātmānaḥ (महात्मानः) and once as a fact about rebirth itself.
Sanskrit in this line
ā (आ) on the front of an ablative means "up to and including," the whole range whose far end is that ablative. ābrahmabhuvanāt (आब्रह्मभुवनात्) is "as far as Brahmā's (ब्रह्मा) world, and that world too." Drop the ā (आ) and the phrase is only "from Brahmā's (ब्रह्मा) world," which is a different claim.
The t (त्) of that ablative before l (ल्) of lokāḥ (लोकाः) becomes l (ल्), and the sound is written double: ābrahmabhuvanāl lokāḥ (आब्रह्मभुवनाल्लोकाः).
Say it back
How far return goes, and where it stops. If ā- (आ-) is missing, so that some heaven below Brahmā (ब्रह्मा) is treated as the last world that returns, stay here.